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Skriven 2004-12-03 23:35:24 av Whitehouse Press (1:3634/12.0)
Ärende: Press Release (0412038) for Fri, 2004 Dec 3
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Press Briefing by Scott McClellan
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For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
December 3, 2004

Press Briefing by Scott McClellan
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

Press Briefing
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12:43 P.M. EST

MR. McCLELLAN: Good afternoon, to JD and everybody else. It's Friday, so
let's just go straight to questions.

Q Do you have any reaction to the Ukraine Supreme Court_s decision to
invalidate the election?

MR. McCLELLAN: The court's decision is an important step in moving toward a
peaceful, democratic resolution that reflects the will of the people. It's
important that the will of the people prevail, and the court's decision is
part of the political and legal process for meeting that objective.

Q Do you have any reaction to the decision of the Ukrainian parliament
today calling on the President to withdraw the troops from Iraq? They
called on the current president, but we know also that both the major
candidates also indicated their desire to withdraw the troops.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, we appreciate the contributions from the international
community to helping the Iraqi people build a free and peaceful future,
including the contributions from Ukraine. Obviously, every country makes
their own decisions about those matters. There are other countries that
have extended their tours, and we'll continue working with the
international community and all those countries who want to help move
forward toward a free and peaceful Iraq for the Iraqi people.

Q Have you been informed of Tommy Thompson's resignation?

MR. McCLELLAN: I believe Secretary Thompson has a news conference at 2:00
p.m. this afternoon. And I think out of respect for the announcement that
he will be having at that time, I will defer on all questions for now.

Q How many more? (Laughter.)

Q The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has now signed off on the
intelligence bill. Is the President now confident with that he can get an
intel bill through next week?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, we continue to urge members of Congress to move
forward on getting this intelligence reform passed. We have taken a number
of steps that were recommended by the 9/11 Commission -- 36 of 41 of their
recommendations we have acted on, in one way or another, to better protect
the American people and make sure that we have the best possible
intelligence to protect the homeland. This intelligence reform legislation
builds upon those steps we have already taken.

And the President expressed earlier this week in Canada that he hopes we
can get it done next week. We continue to be in very close contact with
congressional leaders -- both the President, as well as the Vice President
and members of the senior staff to get this legislation moving forward.
I've seen a number of comments from congressional leaders saying that they
are hopeful that it can get done next week, as well. We're continuing to
work through some of the remaining issues. But I think the President's
views are very clear. And Secretary Rumsfeld and General Myers have
expressed their support for moving forward on this, as well.

Q When will his letter go up to the Hill? And what will he say?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I'm not going to get ahead of the letter at this
point, but I think the President's views are very clear. And he'll talk a
little bit more about some of those remaining issues that are being
discussed as we move forward. I think the President will continue to talk
about the importance of getting this down now. Congress has made a lot of
progress, and now is the time to get this legislation passed. I think he
will talk about the importance of preserving the chain of command in
departments and agencies. That's something that's very important to the
President.

And that would include the Department of Defense. We want to make sure that
our war fighters have everything they need to complete their mission and do
their job. And we want to make sure that there is not unnecessary
interference with the chain of command.

Q Scott, can I follow that?

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes.

Q I'm hearing from folks involved with this that Myers, in fact, answered
very narrowly about budgetary authority, and that he and others have
concerns about preserving the chain of command in the intelligence bill as
written. Does the President -- since the bill, as I understand it,
stipulates that the President has four months, or something like that to
delineate the chain of command, does the President have concerns about the
bill not guaranteeing, for example, the military -- the ability to position
satellite imagery as they would want, as it's written now?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, the President wants to make sure that the chain of
command is preserved. He's made that clear before, and he will continue to
make that clear. That is important as we move forward on these reforms. And
discussions are ongoing with members of Congress. I'm not going to try to
get into trying to negotiate or resolve this matter from this podium. It's
best to have -- let those discussions continue, so that we can keep this
legislation moving forward. Congress made a lot of progress. We are at the
final step now toward getting it passed. And the President is working very
closely with congressional leaders to move it forward and make it a
reality.

Q But it's not a done deal, as the wording is now; am I correct on that?
The President still has reservations; negotiations must continue?

MR. McCLELLAN: Negotiations on what?

Q On this bill, itself. The language is not final.

MR. McCLELLAN: There are discussions -- there are some concerns that some
members have raised. We're trying to work through those issues and resolve
those remaining differences. The President has made his views very clear on
this legislation. First and foremost, he said it's important that we get
this legislation passed now. That's why he wants Congress to move forward
on it next week. This builds upon all the steps we've already taken to
improve the sharing and gathering of intelligence information, and the
steps we've taken to create the Department of Homeland Security and the
other steps that we have taken to make sure that we're getting the best
possible intelligence, so that we can prevail in the war on terrorism.

Q But the President's letter is not going to say, pass that particular
bill, or whatever is sitting on the --

MR. McCLELLAN: You will be able to see what the letter says when he sends
that letter to members of the Hill, and see for yourself at that point.

Q Scott, this transition process has been described to us as an orderly
process overseen by the Chief of Staff. But with half or more now of the
Cabinet secretaries having announced their resignations, and certainly more
to come, are we about to -- have we reached the point where this becomes
less of an orderly process and more of a stampede that's going to impinge
on the transition process?

MR. McCLELLAN: Absolutely not. There is a process that was put in place to
move into a second term. Some of that work started before the election was
even over. And then the President went to Camp David and started thinking
about it, himself, and making decisions about his second-term team. There
are a number of members of the Cabinet who have been serving for quite some
time, longer than most secretaries served in previous -- have served in
previous administrations. And we have put in place a process that will lead
to a smooth transition. I think it's -- we're in a lot better position
coming into this time than we were in 2000 to move into the next term.

And members of the Cabinet, by and large, have said that -- those that are
leaving have said that they're going to remain in place until their
successor is confirmed by the Senate. I think everybody is committed to
working together to make this process a smooth transition to a second term.
And we appreciate the great work the Cabinet has been doing in the first
term, and the President looks forward to working with his Cabinet in the
second term to accomplish many great things.

Q Scott, a follow-up. Why does the President want this change and --

MR. McCLELLAN: I was going to Elaine, I'll come back there.

Q Back on the intel report, has Speaker Hastert agreed to pull the bill and
put it on the floor for a vote? And is that something the administration
specifically asked in the discussions yesterday?

MR. McCLELLAN: Speaker Hastert has continued to work on this issue. He's
continuing to talk with members --

Q -- specifically to --

MR. McCLELLAN: -- with his own members of Congress, as well. In terms of
speaking for him, I don't do that from this podium; you can direct those
questions to his office. The President has been working very closely with
Speaker Hastert and Leader Frist on these efforts and to get this
legislation moving forward. And the Speaker indicated a couple of weeks ago
that he was committed to keeping this process moving forward. He indicated
that when they recessed -- they didn't adjourn, and members of the House
are scheduled to come back next week.

Q Has the President asked Speaker Hastert to -- in their discussions, did
he ask that question?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, you've heard directly from the President. He has
spoken publicly and said that he hopes to get this legislation passed next
week, and he remains committed to doing that. We want it to get passed as
quickly as possible. We've made a lot of progress from where we were just a
few weeks ago.

Go ahead Goyal.

Q Scott, could you give us a little more about tomorrow's meeting between
President Bush and President Musharraf from Pakistan, because this is a
very rare and unique visit, because last time, as far as I remember,
weekend is concerned, any leader visiting White House was in 1999, former
Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr. Nawaz Sharif and President Clinton were
here in White House. Why he is coming over the weekend and because it's a
holiday, people are with their families and celebrating holidays and --

MR. McCLELLAN: I'll double-check this, but I believe President Musharraf
was already visiting Latin America and so
this was a convenient time for them to visit again. They've met on a number
of occasions. We certainly work very closely with Pakistan in the global
war on terrorism and addressing some of the issues along the border region
there. So it will be an opportunity to continue to talk about our shared
commitment to winning the global war on terrorism. It will be an
opportunity to talk about our bilateral relationship, as well, and to talk
about regional issues, like the situation between India and Pakistan. And
so the President looks forward to welcoming President Musharraf to the
White House and discussing some of these issues with him tomorrow.

Q Second, on the Burma, you have -- I see a statement from you. This poor
lady, a Nobel prize winner, Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi still in detention or in
house arrest. And the military in Burma has extended another year,
according to the statement from you. What are we doing? Because this is
really strange that -- not only freedom, but this poor lady is still in
jail year after year after year? When she will be out, and when do we have
-- or people in Burma will have real freedom?

MR. McCLELLAN: We remain deeply concerned about the situation, and we have
called on the release of all political prisoners immediately and
unconditionally. And that remains our view. And you do have the statement
that was put out from me yesterday on that matter.

Q Scott, do you have anything on a meeting Monday between Democratic and
Republican leaders on Social Security reform that supposedly will be here?
And, if so, what areas do you plan on dealing with at the White House?

MR. McCLELLAN: I don't have anything to update at this point, but we are
talking with congressional leaders about this important priority.
Strengthening Social Security is one of the President's top priorities for
his second term. And he is committed to moving forward on it as quickly as
we can. So there are conversations that are ongoing with members of
Congress about how we can move forward together to get this done.

We know that doing nothing is not a solution, because the system is
unsustainable as it currently stands. So we need to act to strengthen
Social Security, so that younger workers will be able to build a nest egg
for their future. And the President remains committed to moving as quickly
as he can on this priority.

Q Part of my question has been answered already, but did the President
convince General Myers to drop his opposition to the intelligence reform
bill and go along with the President?

MR. McCLELLAN: General Myers made his comments yesterday on his own. You
heard directly from him on this matter. There were a lot of issues that we
looked at as this legislation was moving through the process. The President
has stated his views in a number of different ways, both publicly and
through correspondence with members of Congress. And he continues to work
very closely with those leaders.

Q As I drove in -- this is on behalf of my friend, Goyal. As I drove in, I
noticed a number of anti-Bhopal demonstrations. This is the 20th
anniversary of the gas spill. From the White House podium, do you have
anything to say to the people who are still suffering as a result of that
gas spilled 20 years ago?

MR. McCLELLAN: Let me see if I can get you more, see if we've put any more
out on this.

Go ahead, Paula.

Q On the Social Security issue, as far as transition costs go, one of the
outstanding issues, of course, was how to address the short-term transition
costs of upwards of $2 trillion. And one suggestion has been to devise an
off-budget device, similar to what was done during the S&L bailout, because
technically, if you do that, then it isn't considered deficit spending. And
I'm wondering if the administration is considering devising an off-budget
mechanism --

MR. McCLELLAN: Is that something you're wanting us to consider or look at?
Do you have some ideas for us?

The President hasn't endorsed a specific plan at this point. He's laid out
some very clear principles. As I said, the Social Security system, as it
stands now, is unsustainable. We want younger workers to be able to realize
a greater rate of return on their investments, because right now, under the
current system, they're facing either massive tax increases or massive
benefit cuts. The system needs to be fixed, and that is why the President
strongly supports strengthening Social Security with personal accounts so
that younger workers can realize a better rate of return on their
retirement savings.

Q But the question is that, at least among some critics of this idea, is
that it's basically a budget gimmick, and as you know, one of the issues
you're planning to discuss in this economic summit is budget discipline. So
will budget -- will funding Social Security in the short-term be part of
that discussion on budgetary discipline?

MR. McCLELLAN: You've heard the President talk recently about the
importance of addressing the deficits, both the short-term and long-term
deficits. He has a plan that he's put forward to cut the deficit in half
over the next five years. He also is committed to addressing the unfunded
liabilities that we have. And the President has made Social Security a
priority. It was something that was debated during the campaign. And the
President believes it's important to solve this problem, and not pass it on
to future generations. The matter only gets worse over time. And there are
two options we have: we can do nothing, and let it continue to get worse;
or
we can act now to make sure that our children and grandchildren can build a
nest egg for their future because right now they're not going to have their
retirement savings if we continue under the current system.

Go ahead.

Q On the Cabinet shuffling, I'm wondering why the President wants these
big, sweeping changes to his Cabinet.

MR. McCLELLAN: Why the President wants -- I'm sorry?

Q So many changes to his Cabinet.

(Telephone rings.)

MR. McCLELLAN: Maybe that's the answer there on the phone. (Laughter.)

I think if you look back over history, Presidents who have moved into a
second term have always looked at their Cabinet and made decisions about
what team they want in place to move forward on that second-term agenda.
There are a number of members of the Cabinet who have indicated -- there's
an announcement coming later today, and some members of the Cabinet have
indicated previously that they were looking at simply serving for the
remainder of this term. And then they were going to return to the private
sector or go to the private sector for other reasons. But I think you're
looking at it in the wrong context.

This Cabinet has been in place longer than most in previous
administrations. I think you can look at that and see how long some members
of this Cabinet have served. A number of them have served a full four years
now, and that's a long time for anyone to serve in a position like that. It
is also good to have some fresh new faces in place from time to time. And
so the President is looking at all this. He's visited with members of his
Cabinet to talk to them about these issues, and the process continues to
move forward.

Q Hey, Scott, can I follow-up?

MR. McCLELLAN: Go ahead, Bob.

Q Are there any more letters on the President's desk, or has the President
been notified of any other Cabinet
members --

MR. McCLELLAN: You know, as I say, that we'll keep you posted at the
appropriate time. I think out of respect for the process, it's important
that we keep all that in mind. I want to be respectful of the process. I
want to be respectful of the wishes of members of the Cabinet, as well. But
the process continues to move forward at this point.

Mark, you had a question.

Q Scott, let me just follow up on the Musharraf visit again tomorrow. Is
the President satisfied with everything that Musharraf and his government
are doing in the hunt for al Qaeda and, specifically, Osama bin Laden?

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think there's always more that can be done, Mark;
we've said that. But we've had good close cooperation with Pakistan in
going after some of the remnants of the Taliban and al Qaeda members. And
we're going to continue working closely with them. We have good
intelligence cooperation, and this is something that's a priority for both
our nations.

Q Okay. Can I also ask, does the President think at all about some of the
things he's said in speeches about not trading security help for dealing
with unelected regimes when he meets with General Musharraf?

MR. McCLELLAN: We make our views very clear publicly and privately when it
comes for our support for democracy and moving in that direction. And there
are some steps that Pakistan has taken, and we continue to talk to them
about those issues.

Q He doesn't think he's violating his own rubric?

MR. McCLELLAN: Mark, I think our views are very clear when it comes to our
support for freedom and democracy and other issues.

Go ahead.

Q Scott, on the same lines, there are reports in the Pakistani press that
with the reelection of President Bush, the U.S. might be closer to giving
F-16s to Pakistan in return for -- in recognition for the work in the war
on terror. Is that on the agenda for this weekend? And is the U.S. --

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I don't want to get ahead of the meeting. Let's let
the meeting take place, but I don't expect any such announcements on
matters like that at this time.

Q Scott, The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday that the Pentagon
deliberately misled CNN about the invasion of Fallujah. Specifically, on
October 14th, a Pentagon spokesman had told CNN, troops crossed the line of
departure. It's going to be a long night. In fact, the invasion of Fallujah
didn't start for another three weeks. The Times says this was part of an
elaborate psychological operation to dupe insurgents. Two questions on
this: Does the President believe that the U.S. should deliberately mislead
reporters to gain an advantage over the enemy? And have you ever
deliberately misled reporters to gain an advantage over the enemy?

MR. McCLELLAN: No, on the second part. And on the first part, you need to
direct that question to the Department of Defense because they've talked
about that matter.

Go ahead, Jeff.

Q Well, the question was about the President. Does the President believe --

MR. McCLELLAN: You need to direct -- the Department of Defense has
responded to that article and you need to get their view on this matter. I
don't know all the details about it.

Go ahead.

Q Mary Frances Berry, the Chairwoman of the U.S. Commission on Civil
Rights, said recently that she won't step down when her term expires on
December 5th. Has the White House named a replacement for her, and what
steps will you take to see that that person is seated? If you'll recall, in
the year 2001, she said that the President would have to send U.S. marshals
to seat one of his nominees on the commission.

MR. McCLELLAN: There are set terms for this commission and we move forward
on naming those replacements, knowing when those terms expire. There's
nothing I have to announce at this point on it, though.

Q Scott, as you know, much was made of Senator Kennedy appearing with
President Bush back when he passed the No Child Left Behind Act, only to
see the Senator come back later and criticize the President for not
implementing it, in his words, properly or funding it properly. Here we are
again with another education bill signing with President Kennedy -- or with
Senator Kennedy standing next to President Bush. And I'm just wondering if
you have any confidence that over the long haul he will be any more
supportive than he was the first time.

MR. McCLELLAN: Well, let me talk from our perspective. The President has
made it very clear that he's going to continue reaching out to members of
Congress on both sides of the aisles to focus on areas where we have common
goals, and focus on things where we can get -- focus on getting things
done. That is how the President approaches this. He wants to get things
done on the big priorities that we face.

We were able to have strong bipartisan support for the No Child Left Behind
Act. It implemented historic reforms that are bringing accountability and
results to our schools, and making sure that we're not just shuffling kids
through the system.

Now with the passage and signing of the reauthorization of the Individuals
with Disabilities Education Act, we are also making sure that those
standards are brought to our children with disabilities, so that they're
learning and that they are able to realize their dreams. The President was
pleased to have Senator Kennedy and other members from both sides of the
aisle here today to participate in that bill signing. The President will
continue to reach out, and it's important for other people to reach back,
as well, so that we can focus on what's best for the American people. And
that's the spirit in which he will continue to work going forward.

Q Thank you.

MR. McCLELLAN: Thank you. Have a good weekend. See those who have to cover
tomorrow, tomorrow.

END 1:06 P.M. EST
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